Improvement in water-wheels



B. RUOF. water-wheels.

No. 137,242, l Paremedmarchzmlws.

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vga/TNESSES.' lNVENEJ'oR. -j E "l a., nel.: LL" l M/egg Y .J/4MM UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE BENGAMEN RUOF, OF ZOAR, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN WATERWHEELS.

. Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 137,242, dated March 25, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENGAMEN RUOF, of Zoar, in the county of Tuscarawas and State of Ohio, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Water-Wheels 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing making a part of this specification, and to the letters and iigures of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the drawing is a representation of a top view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom view of my water-wheel. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of my invention, and Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views.

My invention relates to certain improvements in turbine water-wheels and it consists in the peculiar form of the gate, bed-plate, and wheel7 whereby the water has but a short distance to travel through the gate and bed-plate before acting on the wheel. Also, the peculiar form of the center of the bed-plate and the arched frame-work which supports the upper bearings of the shaft, whereby said parts may be connected by braces for strengthening them. Also, the peculiar curved form of the buckets, whereby the water is discharged with the least delay and the greatest economy of the centrifugal force.

In the drawing, Arepresents a vertical shaft, the lower end of which is stepped at a in any suitable manner, and which carries the wheel B, revolving in a horizontal plane, immediately under the bed-plate (l, upon which rests the gate D. This gate is concave-convex in form, itsupper and lower surfaces being bounded by curved instead of straight lines, so that any portion thereof included between two parallel lines running parallel with its plane forms a spherical segment. The bed-plate C is of corresponding form with the gate D, except that its periphery is extended horizontally to form a flange, c, for attachment to the topA of the wheelpit E, and in its center is formed a semi-spheroidal dome or hub, G, whose shape and object are hereinafter particularly described and explained. The upper portion of the wheel B, which comes in contact with the bed-plate O, corresponds in form with the lower or convex surface of said bed-plate, so as to revolve freely thereunder without any waste room between the two portions.

By making the gate and bed-'plate to partake of aspherical form, much greater strength of material is attained than would be the case if their surfaces were bounded by straight lines, and therefore these parts are made much thinner than the corresponding parts in ordi- .nary water-wheels, in consequence of which the water has but a short distance to travel through the gate and bed-plate before acting on the wheel, which is a matter of the utmost importance in large wheels.

In the gate and bed-plate are apertures to admit and guide the water to the buckets, the sides of said apertures being bounded by radial lines, the edges of those in the gate being inclined downward toward each other, so as conduct the water to those in the bed-jplate, the edges of which are inclined in a direction about perpendicular to the plane of the surface of the upper portion of the bucket, so that the water strikes the bucket in a direct line. The gate turns about the dome or hub G as a center, and is regulated by a rack and pinion inthe ordinary manner. The dome or hub G rises from the concave center of the bed-plate C in such a manner that its upper surface forms one-half of a sphere, and its lower or inner surface forms one-half of an oblong spheroid, the lower edge projecting slightly below the under surface of the bed-plate so as to form an annular ange, g. The upper portion of the shaft A has its bearings in the center of an arched frame-work, K, consisting of radial bars extending from said center to the flange c, to which they are bolted, or through which they are bolted to the top of the wheel-pit E,

said bars being curved to form an arc of ninety degrees, so that their revolution would generate a hemisphere.

By making the hub G and bars K to partake of a spherical form, great strength of material is attained, and facility is afforded for the attachment of strengthening-braces, consisting of screw-bolts L passed through the arched bars K and inserted in the dome G, whereby the parts are rmly connected and securely braced.

The shaft bearing in the center of the framework is properly hushed and provided with setscrews for tightening the bushing. The flange y projecting downward from the hub G forms a partial bearing-surface for the inner rim of the Wheel. The Wheel B is composed of a sleeve, b, a circular plate, b1, an inner rim, b2, an outer rim, b3, and a series of buckets, M. The sleeve b facilitates the attachment of the wheel to the shaft, and the inner rim bis connected to the sleeve by the plate b1, or the sleeve, plate, and rim may be cast in one piece. The rim b2 is attached at such a point as to revolve in a horizontal plane very near the lower end of the shaft A, while the outer rim b3 revolves in aplane considerably higher than that ofthe rim b2, so that a straight line drawn from the bottom of the inner rim to the bottom of the outer rim would form an angle of from thirty to forty-five degrees. The rim b2 has grooves cast on its outer surface, and the rim b3 has corresponding grooves on its inner surface, and the buckets M have their inner and outer edges inserted in said grooves and secured therein by riveting or otherwise. The buckets M are made from metallic plates in form resembling a rhomboid or paralielogram with one of the obtuse-angular portions thereof rounded off, and are inserted between the rims in such a manner that the rounded portions are toward the lower and outer side of the Weeel. The lower and outer portion of the bucket is curved backward and downward, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, so that when in place in the Wheel the buckets are of such form and in such position that the water strikes them in a direct line, and is discharged instantaneously in a nearly radial direction with` the least delay and the greatest economyr of the centrifugal force.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The concave-convex gate D, in combination with the bed-plate C of similar form, arranged substantially as shown and described.

2. The bed-plate C formed with the central dome or hub G, substantially as shown and described.

3. Ihe arched frame-Work K, in combination with the bed-plate C and bolts L, substantially as shown and described, for the purpose speeiiied.

4. The buckets M, made in the formshown and described, in combination with the rims b2 b3 of the casing, said buckets being curved in such form and arranged in such position that the water is received in a direct line and discharged instantaneously in nearly a radia direction, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claimthe above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

BENGAMEN RUOF. Witnesses:

PHIL C. MASI, E. R. BROWN. 

